Walk to work and earn miles with this app, just like airline frequent flyer programs
All those miles you log driving back and from the office are finally worth something.
Miles is a new rewards platform for all types of travel. It's a way to "incentivize and nudge user behavior," Jigar Shah, CEO and co-founder, told Mashable while demoing the app.
The new app takes however you get around and turns it into miles -- like airlines frequent flyer programs but for travel you actually do every day, like taking the train, or bus, or bike ride from the train stop. Even driving and ordering a Lyft or Uber gets you points.
You're encouraged to use more sustainable travel methods with more points per mile -- so that walk from your house to the office is worth more than if you drive the same distance. The best part about the app is you sign up and then don't have to think about it. "You can forget about it for a week," Shah said.
I signed up to check out the app before its Tuesday release and as I was walking to the gym realized I hadn't turned it on. But then I remembered it didn't need me to open the app or click anything. Sure enough, when I arrived almost a mile later my trip was tracked -- and so were my points for those steps.
The rewards program is surprisingly not bad at all. Miles add up fast, and you don't have to really do anything with the app once you sign up. It all works in the background while you walk to work or pedal on your bike. You do need to go back into the app if you want to redeem your earned miles for rewards, like $5 off airport parking for only 50 miles or $5 at Starbucks or Whole Foods for 2,000 miles.
Already over 35 companies offer rewards from a range of companies in categories like auto, dining, electronics, travel, shopping and more. It's way easier to actually use that $5 than airlines make it to redeem miles for flights, that's for sure.
Miles is working with cities and transit agencies to encourage using the train or park and ride lots -- and of course the app. So-called challenges on the app will offer rewards like a free parking spot or $6 off a train trip -- and the challenges are pretty reasonable. Complete five carpool trips, say, and earn a challenge reward.
While your personal data isn't on offer to companies and the app, your aggregated behavior patterns are used for predicative analysis. So the company can let Starbucks know that, say, 150 app users are likely to go to Starbucks within the next four hours based on past behavior. If you're one of those likely coffee drinkers then you'll probably get flagged with a notice about a Starbucks reward if you hit a few more miles. Businesses love this type of information, Shah explained, especially when they can start to anticipate what customers will do next, and influence those decisions.
Shah ultimately wants to encourage all different types of transit options and be part of the that last-mile problem, where someone who takes the train into downtown still has a mile to get to the office front door. "It's giving something back to users," who spend a lot of time getting from point A to point B with nothing to show for it, he said.
Finally there's a way to get recognized for all the travel you do -- even if it's just a walk around the corner. It adds up.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
